Jude quotes

November 2013: I asked Jude what he wanted for his birthday. He said, "A cupcake." I asked if he wanted any toys or anything. He said, "No, just a cupcake with peanut butter on it." (by peanut butter, he means frosting). Easy to please!

Noel turned on the shower one night instead of the bath and Jude yelled, "Daddy made a stake!" instead of mistake and laughed hysterically.

He always calls robots "rote bots" and cucumber "cute cumber".

December 2013: I told the kids they were having mango juice and Jude said, "Like a flamingo?" Then Hazel asked for more flamingo juice.

We opened stockings and had cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve. When we were done, Jude (in a completely monotone voice) said, "That was a fun party, Mommy." The tone just cracked me up.

February 2014: Jude told me his bunny and aardvark stuffed animals were up in the closet but he has "these animals in my bed because they are very special."

Jude told me he talked to God about using his fork and trying not to use his hands when eating. That was a big step up from his prayer the prior week, "Thank you for garbage."

Jude was playing with his trucks one morning and said, "Mater has a name. Queen has a name. Green truck has a name." Noel said, "Oh? What's green truck's name?" Jude replied, "Green truck." Duh.

March 2014: I asked Jude to hold Nona's hand. He says, "Jude's hand is getting tired!" (his excuse - he's not a good hand holder).

The kids have lots of food restrictions and we often tell them they can't have something because it will hurt their tummy. They are SO understanding! One day Hazel said, "These brownies will hurt Hazel's tummy." Jude replies, "These brownies will hurt Jude's back and Jude's penis." Say what?!?!?!

June 2014: Jude and Hazel went straight from nap time to time out one day. They were sitting next to each other in timeout and I heard Jude say, "I did bad listening, Hazel, so I had to go in timeout." Hazel said, "You did?" Jude, "Yeah, I did bad behavior."

The kids were playing outside with beach towels and Jude was pretending to read the tag: "We will do no throwing fits."

August 2014: After a few naked days potty training, I let Jude wear underwear. He said, "These are BEAUTIFUL truck underwear, Mommy!"

September 2014: While reading a sudoku book, "Then they (the numbers) had to get a timeout. But they wandered off and they ate their breakfast."

October 2014: After reading about Jesus dying on the cross, Hazel said "Jesus is sad." I said, "Yeah, why is Jesus sad?" Jude exclaims, "Because he got hanged on a hook!"

Nona quotes

January 2014: While playing the piano at Grandmas, Nona said, "Nona playing this organ. Mommy dance. Nona making a sound."

"I get kitty Ruby one more snack, moooooommmmmy." (The kids like to stretch out "Mommy" at the end of sentences.

Nona constantly calls our friend, Chris, (who we call Ms. Chris) Christmas. She was playing with bubbles that Chris brought and said, "Christmas brought these for Nona!" I had no idea who she was referring to for the longest time. Hilarious.

I asked Nona if she wanted to go to Hope College, Calvin College, or Alma College. She said, "Go to Elmo College. Go to Cookie Monster College." Apparently she heard Alma as Elmo. Hilarious.

March 2014: Nona saw a minute of the show "Property Brothers" on HGTV and said, "What are those boys doing?" She calls men and women of all ages, boys and girls.

When I put Nona to bed she said, "Mommy is too sweet." and put her head on my shoulder. Melt my heart.

I told the kids there were hazelnuts in the bars I made them for lunch. Nona responded, "There are Nona nuts in these bars!"

Some maintenance guys came to do work on our house and Nona says, "Those guys LOVE Nona!"

April: Nona came waltzing in my room first thing in the morning. She had her hand in her diaper and said, "I'm touching my gine!"

Nona likes to add, "That is very nice of...!" to the end of things. "I taking this baby to the potty. That is very nice of Nona!"

"Nana and Papa go to Grandma Dorie's house. That's very nice of Nana and Papa!"

"That was very nice of Daddy to hold Nona's hand in the carwash."

Instead of "by myself", Nona says, "I do it with myself!" or "I do it for myself!"

May 2014: Nona's prayer, "Dear God. Thank you that Nona could go on the potty. Thank you that Nona did not stand up. Thank you that Nona could do a fart."

June 2014: Nona asked for spray on her bottom when I was changing her diaper. I put some on and she said, "oooooooh my bottom is spicy!". Ha!

July 2014: Nona showed me a picture of Grandpa and said, "This is Grandpa. Do you know Grandpa? Grandpa is my best friend."

September 2014: Nona ripped 2 pages out of a book. I told her no and then asked what she was doing. "I was just pretending this was wrapping paper on a present, Mommy!". Nice, Nona.

October 2014: Nona asked Jude if she could get him some toilet paper. He said, "no." She yelled, "But I'm nice!"

She put on her Sunday shoes to wear to the store. I told her those weren't good shoes for the store. She said, "But I want to pretend these are good ones."

While eating a booger (which she ALWAYS does!) she spit it out and said, "Get this, Mommy! This part of my booger is too yucky for me!"

Then and now

Almost a year ago.
IMG 0788 from Noel Snyder on Vimeo.

A few days ago.
IMG 1363 from Noel Snyder on Vimeo.

Nona - 2 1/2

Nona is FULL of personality at 2 and 1/2 years old! She is so verbal, hilarious, a major tester, sneaky,  injury prone, messy, imaginative, and more.

Nona is the only child so far to have a major split in her head. We didn't take her for stitches since we have a doctor friend here who glued and taped up her wound. We're hoping her scar majorly fades or disappears.
She's also the only one we've had to make emergency stops for while taking walks. We've stopped at 2 different houses for bandaids due to Nona falling and scraping up her knees pretty bad. One person we knew, one we didn't. Hey, it's a good way to meet new people! Knock on the door, show them your bleeding child, and ask for a bandaid. :)

When berry picking this summer, Nona ended every picking session with an empty bucket. She ate more strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries than I though humanly possible (straight eating for over 2 hours).

I often find myself saying, "Nona is a disaster.". She is seriously SO messy in EVERYTHING she does. I thought Jude's messy eating couldn't be touched, but Nona out does him nearly every meal. Painting usually ends with me overly frustrated. If there's anything that could make a tiny mess, Nona will find it and turn it into a big mess.

Nona takes GREAT joy in riding "Sandy" at Meijer.

While Noel was out of town, I had to leave the kids unattended to catch a shower. Normally this isn't an issue (they actually usually play really well together). However, on this occasion, Nona found the sunscreen and covered herself and my bed in it. I wasn't happy when I found her. She simply says, "I was just putting sunscreen on, Mommy!" as if that's a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Ahhhh!!!!

Caught in the sunscreen act (attempt number 2).

Nona is the most daring of the kids. She's the only one who'll try walking on this wobbly snake at the park.

She loves carrying Baby Jenny in her shirt (like a baby carrier) and is often rocking, bouncing, and snuggling her babies. She has such a natural instinct for this.

Blueberry picking was her favorite. When we were finished, she started crying and said, "Why don't I have any blueberries in my bucket, Mommy?" Ummmm, you ate them all Nona. I quickly grabbed a few handfuls, threw them in her bucket so she wouldn't leave with an empty bucket but by the time we got to the stand to pay, she had eaten those too. Silly girl.

Nona loved the dolls at Grandma Dorie's house.

Nona loves to use the phrase "I was just pretending..." to explain her behavior. She ripped 2 pages out of a book. I told her that was unacceptable. She says, "But I was just pretending this was wrapping paper, Mommy!". She wants to wear underwear and I tell her no. "But I just want to pretend this underwear is a diaper, Mommy!". Ummmmmm, no.

She always uses "she" and "he" instead of "her" and "him". 

• I want she's blanket on. (referring to her doll)
• Where's she's pacifier?
• I want he to come out of the TV so I can give he a hug. (referring to Curious George)

She made up the word "who body" (combining "somebody" and "who") which I find hilarious.

• Whobody did a bless you, Mommy? (Who sneezed?)
• Whobody farted, Mommy?

She uses "I" instead of "me".

• Let I just help you with that.
• Let I open it.

Can I take a smile of you? (Can I take your picture?)

When she wakes up in the morning or nap time, she whines in her bed "Nona got awake!" until someone comes and gets her.

I tried to explain to her that her eyes are hazel eyes. She looked at me and said, "But these are Nona eyes." Similiary, we had hazelnut date balls for lunch one day. She asked what was in them and I said, "hazelnuts". She said, "But, these are Nona nuts!". Having Hazel be a color, a nut, and her sister is proving to be confusing.

Meijer Gardens Fall Fun!

Thanks to Grandma's Meijer Garden membership, the kids get to visit quite frequently for free! They LOVE Meijer Garden's and often play pretend that they're going to Meijer Gardens. The changing exhibits keep it fresh and this great fall weather made for a great afternoon!

 It was warm enough to play in the water! Summer and Fall in the same day!

 What could be more fun than a field of giant pumpkins?

Can we get a nice picture?

This is what usually happens when I ask the kids if we can get a nice picture. At least one child will deliberately look away from the camera. At least one will make a silly face. At least one will make a nasty face. At least 2 will think it's hilarious that I'm getting frustrated. And then all 3 will want to see  the picture. I'm better off with candids.

Hazel and Jude turn 3!

It was so fun to be able to celebrate Hazel and Jude's 3rd birthday with lots of family! They have come so far in their 3 short years of life and we are so grateful for how well they are doing. 

 Jude LOVES trucks and was thrilled about the book (a garage sale find!).

 Hazel and Jude LOVE stuffed animals. Jude mostly likes monkey stuffed animals. Hazel likes several different ones.

 Trains!

 They both got bikes from Nana and Papa!

 Of course, Nona was the first one to sit on the bike. Hazel and Jude were a little scared and overwhelmed.

IMG 0676 from Noel Snyder on Vimeo.